Going with the Flow, River Running History
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Ratty and Mole Going with the Flow, River Running History 13,500 years of Grand Canyon river running history in 45 minutes… ? Legend in the eyes of artists History written by the victors Just the Facts The First 13,000 Years… • The Pipa Aha Macav, Cocopah, Mojave and Gila Indians had Tule reed boats • Spaniards in 1540 called the Colorado River El Rio de Las Balsas (the river of boats) Whipple crossing the Colorado, winter 1853-54 1869 John Wesley Powell and 9 others First documented trip Ten men in 4 boats at start Six men in two boats at end 1871 Wheeler Expedition 1871 at Diamond Creek Wheeler Expedition of 1871 •Portaged their boats up along the shore of Separation Rapid •Downrun of the river 200 miles from Diamond Creek to Fort Mohave (Needles) in 5 days 1892 Bill Cody November Lees Ferry was a rowing ferry 1889-90, 96, 97, 1903, 1908 •1889-90, Stanton, Glen Canyon to the Sea •1896, Flavell and Montez, Green River, WY, to Needles, CA •1897, Galloway and Richmond, Green River, WY, to Needles, CA •1903, King, Sanger and Wooley, Lees Ferry to Needles, CA •1908, Russell and Monett, Green River, UT, to Needles, CA 1909 Stone Galloway Boat Narrow with FLAT bottom 1911-12 Kolb brothers First on-river motion picture filming 1914 August, J. H. Hummel and David Miller Green River, UT, to the Confluence. Miller’s boat caught fire and burned up. Hummel proceeded Solo to the Bright Angel Trail. Hiked out and gave boat to Kolb. December 1914 In Glen Canyon Ross Wheeler Foot of the South Bass Trail 1919 27 People Lees to Pearce by 1919 February 26, 1919 Grand Canyon National Park signed into law. 1923 USGS Dam surveyors and map makers Catherine Pahl and Edith Kolb USGS 1923 the Dam surveyors and map makers 1927 Superintendent Miner Tillotson 1927 through 1938 The 13,403-year-old Era of the Unknown River ends and The Era of Tragedy begins… Tragic Era? Yup… 1928 June 7, 1928 Royce Dean, Lewis Tsinnie, and Adolpha Johnson 86,000 cfs Bessie and Glen Hyde November 1929 Just three months after the Hyde disappearance, while the loss of Glen and Bessie was still making news… First NPS River Unit, Fred Johnson, Glen Sturdevant and James Brooks Feb 20, 1929 Sturdevant and Johnson die in low water Horn Creek. Tragic Era indeed… twelve people perished. Between 1928 and 1937 Boating Fatalities: Glen and Bessie Hyde, Glen Sturdevant, Fred Johnson, Bill Payne Swimming Fatalities: Ivan Bundy, Ken Curtis, Wally Peshlakai Suicide by River: Ida Rusk Lees Ferry: Royce Dean, Lewis Tsinnie, and Adolpha Johnson Meanwhile, between 1923 and the end of 1938, 31 people made the run all the way through the Canyon: 1927: Clyde Eddy Expedition 1934: Dusty Half-Dozen 1937: Buzz Holmstrom 1937: Cal-Tech 1938: Elzada Clover Expedition 1938: Holmstrom-Berg The important 1938 trips… Amos Burg 1938 Dr. Elzada Clover Expedition Norm Nevills asked for permission to navigate through the Park April 27, 1938 Superintendent Tillotson wrote while “a formal permit... is not required by regulations, ... we naturally do all in our power to discourage such trips.” Tillotson to Nevills May 3, 1938 Wait… … What? Tillotson banned all NPS employees from making any river cruise in the Park during the rest of his lifetime. • Openly discouraging all river trips beginning in 1937 • Only four NPS employees would participate on four river trips between 1930 and 1955 • First Boating Permit issued April 1947 to Norm Nevills • Public told river permits not issued if no prior GC river experience • Hard Rule starting in 1956 • The NPS would not return to the river by NPS boat until 1968 Tillotson wrote de Colmont July 9, 1937 Required a $10,000 bond ($164,000) for the rescue he was sure would be needed The trio exited the river at Lee’s Ferry The Tragic Era transitioned into The Nevills Era, 1938-1949 •1939: Harris-Loper •1940: Nevills •1941: Nevills •1942: Nevills •1947: Nevills •1948: Nevills •1949: Marston •1949: Harris-Loper-Aleson •1949: Nevills 1941 1942 1942 19th River Party through Grand Canyon 1946 Harry Aleson and Georgie White June 1946 Region 3 Director Tillotson noted he had “proposed a rule which would prohibit people from running the rapids of the Grand Canyon unless they were able to show proper qualification.” July 5, 1946 1947 April 22, 1947 The First Permit went to Norm Nevills NPS Director Newton Drury “we owe it both to ourselves and to the venturesome to assert such control over these attempts as we can legally without impeding undertakings such as those conducted by Norman Nevills.” September 30, 1947 October 9, 1947 Bryant offered Nevills a river concession and wrote “some of the “wild” expeditions through the Canyon could be partially stopped by strict regulations demanding a permit and requirements as to the equipment and as to experienced personnel.” Bryant sent Nevills a permit application to review. Meanwhile, in the rest of the USA • 1940 First National Whitewater Championship for Canoe and Kayak, held near Middledam, Maine, on the Rapid River • 1948 Wind River Races $1,000 cash first place prize • 1949 First Salida through Royal Gorge Race (today’s FIBARK) $1,000 cash first place prize • 1949 22 river trips cruise Glen Canyon, many in rubber rafts and kayaks 1949-1956 The Era of Innovation 1949 Harry Aleson starts running commercial rubber raft trips in Grand Canyon Lou Fetzner Harry Aleson First inboard motorboat ESMERALDA II Outboard motorboats went below Badger Rapid for the first time Bert Loper has a heart attack and dies on the river in July Norm and Doris Nevills perish when their small plane crashes in September After Loper and Nevills died in 1949, Superintendent Bryant closed the river to boating in the fall. Bestor Robinson and Otis Marston talked him out of it at the Marston home in Berkeley a few weeks later. 1950 Stock Chris Craft in Lava Falls 1952 First female rides through Lava Falls on a commercial motorboat Georgie White First female to row through Grand Canyon, with Elgin Pierce, no permit, and first rubber raft to flip in Hance 1953 1953 Blaine Stubblefield in Hells Canyon 1954 April First Bridge Pontoon Oar Powered No Permit April 1954 Upset Rapid July 1954 Bolte-Eaton First motorized bridge pontoon No permit 1955 April Bill Beer and John Daggett swim the river without a permit. Proved importance of good lifejackets. Gibbs No Permit First outboard sport boat Lees to Phantom First paddle boat Tanner to Pipe Creek with a permit The first McKenzie River Dory Georgie invents the outboard Triple Rig Georgie invents the outboard Triple Rig Largest trip (28) and exchange (15) yet, passengers ride Lava Falls, conflict at Deer Creek 1955-1956 John McLaughlin, Dan Davis and Lynn Coffin John McLaughlin served as Assistant Director of Region Two from 1950 to 1955, overseeing Dinosaur National Monument. He knew how DINO had “solved” their “means of controlling this type of use.” The Dinosaur river permit system “does not encourage boating on these rivers without the services of a competent guide.” 1956 The APPLICATION FOR BOATING PERMIT was rewritten in 1956. It asked for “dates for experience through Grand Canyon.” Unlike in the past, if the applicant could not list experience through Grand Canyon, the APPLICATION was NOT approved. The 1956 regulations barred all do- it-yourself users without “prior experience.” At the close of 1956, visitation to the Park topped the one million mark for the first time. Fewer than 500 people had made the transit from Lee’s Ferry to Lake Mead. Glen Canyon Dam Authorized… 1956 to present Cruise Control Era 1968 Horn Creek Rapid Commercial use exploded between 1956 and 1970. In 1970, an alarmed NPS froze all river use as roughly 10,000 commercial passengers and crew, and about 300 do-it-yourself river runners made the trip. From four commercial operators in 1956, there were twenty four operators in 1970. 2004 Draft River Management Plan 1956 DIY Permit Control 4 Tandem Canoes, crew of 8 people, self support trip And I didn’t tell you the half of it… Any questions? .